Battery plate and process of making same



Patented July 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1 6 76 PATENT car es.

WALTERE. HOLLAND, or PHILADELPH A, PENNSYLVANIA, 'AssIoNon 'cro PHIL-ADEL- PHIA STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY. OF PHILADELPHIA, PE

PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

BATTERY PLATE Am) rnocnss or MAKING- smn.

80 Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'Wsrrrnn E. HOLLAND,

. citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; have invented Battery Plates-and Proccssesof ,Making Same, of which the following is a speci- I fication.

The chief objects of this invention are: to

provide an improved method of pasting, finishing and drying electric battery plates; to provide an electric battery plate of improved structure, whereby it shall be capable of 'being formed and chargedat comparativelyhigh current rates without di'slodgementoff flakes or scales of active material, and which shall have better. service: characteristics when used in a battery; and'to provide unformed, pasted electric battery plates of improved mechanical strength and of such charaeterthat they can be handled, stored, shipped and assembled into cells and subsequently formed, in place in the cells, without injury.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

- \Vhen an active material paste made up of fine particles of a metallic oxide and water or a water solution is applied toa battery plate grid and subsequently dried in air in the ordinary manner, the'paste solidifies and hardens and in so doing shrinks or tends to shrink. This causes minutefissures or cracks to appear along the grid member's and usually throughout the body of the pasted material, the number and size of the cracks depending on the character and kind of metallic oxide used, the make-up of the paste, thejconditions of drying, and other factors. Such cracks not only weaken the structure of the active materialand impair its conductivity and contact with the grid members, but they also cause uneven working of the plate due to the excess, of electrolyte supplied by means of each-crack to the immediately-adjacent active material.

Such uneven working tends to cause premature disintegration of. the active material, owing to undermining by the early softening of the material adjacent the cracks, while the diminished conductivity and mechanical strength make rapid formation and charging of the plate unsafe or impossible.

By my invention I am able to make bat- Application filed February 1, 1922. Serial No. 538,465.

tery plates of improved structure. practically free of cracks, and havingbetter service characteristics, from oxides the use of which has been found impractical hereto fore.

In carrying out my invention I'place the plate grid to be pasted 0g filled with active material upon a sheet ofabsorbe'nt material such as unsized paper, supported'upon a fiat,

surface, The lead oxide-or other activema terial, previously mixed to a paste withdilute sulphuric acid or other suitable solution, is then applie'dandjjforced into all the" re nnsYLvANIa, A 003-,

.cesses of the'grid =by*means of a; paddle or other suitable 7 instrument, after -which* the l top surface of"-the' ;plate*is"-leveled ,Or

smoothed ofi' and a" secondsheet "of-paper is 7 applied thereto-land smoothed-with the-hand or lightly rolld,i causing it to adhere to the a wet active material. Th'eplateis'thereupon sheet of fpaper.- The firstjpaper. sheet is then removed and active material paste-is ,turnedover so'th'at it rests. upon the-second added as required to finish thexfilling, and

to smooth off the then upper s'urfaceof the! i plate, after which either the original sheetdetermined upon,-o'rsuch as subjecting it to a suitable steam treatment. In any case the treatment is to be such that the. active material paste is partly 'or wholly deprived of water and caused to solidify or set.

After the dryinghas been carriedto the desiredpoint or has beencompleted, the paper sheets will fall off of, or may be. easily removed from, tl g faces of the plate. after which the plate may be given any additional drying oraging treatment that may be tho ht desirable, for the further: hardening of the active material, or for other purposes. On examination it is found that plates treated in accordance with the above method have far 'less shrinkage cracks than similarly-pasted plates dried in-the usual way with the surfaces exposed. With some kinds is minimized .In consequence of the improved structure, together with the improvement in electrical conductivity and contact within the plate, it is possible to speed up the formation of such platesby the use of high charging rates or, if desiredfto form the plates after .asseinbling into cells.

' Moreover, the formed plates oricells made in accordance with thisinvention h'avcmore uniform. capacityv and better service life, owing to the evenly distributed porosity and the impro'vedstructure, while at the same time, the practical ran for battery use is reatly extended While .I prefers 1y use sheets of-mor'e or I less absorptive pa r in carrying out my invention, I may, i desired, employ sheets of other absorptive materials such as woven fabric, or thin sheets or plates of asbestos or wood, or any absorbent powder or other suitable material which, when applied to the plate surfaces, will properly-[regulate the .rate and manner ofevaporation or with I of abalttery plate during the drying or setdrawalof. liquid from the active material ting oi saidmaterial. 'Isclaim:

- 1. The method'xi'hich consists in applying absorptive material to thefaces oi a pasted battery 7 plate and; thereafter subjecting said plate"to= a drying treatment.-

2. The step inthmmanutacture ofa battery plate which consists .incausing paper e of metallic oxides operation,

6; The process which consists in a plying active material pasteto a plate gri causs 68 sheetsto adhere to the faces of a moist battery plate to regulate the drying thereof.

'3. The process which consists in applying liquid-containing active-material to agrid: applying sheets of-liquid-absor ing material to the exposed faces of the active material in said grid; and thereafter subjectingtheplate to a liquid-removing treatment. 5o

4. The process which consists in applying active material paste to a plate grid; placing sheets of pa er upon the e osed faces of, the paster p ate; and therea er subjecting the plate to a drying treatment.

5. The process which consists in an lying active material paste to'a plate g'i'id; p acing a sheet of water-absorptive material upon the upper face of the plate; finishing the opposite" face of the'plate; applyin a second abs'orpe0 tive sheet to said second ace; and s'ubjecting the Plate and the sheets to a drying ing a water-absorptive material toadhere to the faces'of the resulting plate; and thereafter exposing-the plate to thedrying action of a gas.

and thereafter exposing the plate to the drying action of a'heated gas. v l v v 75 8. The process whichconsists in applying active material paste to a plate grid? causing a water-absorptive material to adhere to the faces of the resulting plate; and there-v after exposingthe plate to the action of so steam.-

WALlIER E. HOLLAND.

late 45 

